Today’s Communion antiphon from psalm 9 included the words I will recount all your wonders. So we did, in the form of Rutter’s cheerful setting of the words of the old hymn, itself said to be inspired by words from Coleridge’s The Ancient Mariner:

He prayeth best, who loveth bestAll things great and smallFor the dear God who loveth usHe made and loveth all.

Another new composer for us this week, in the person of Sebastián de Vivanco. Roughly contemporary with Victoria, he plied his trade in Ávila, Segovia and, at the height of his career, in Salamanca. According to Wikipedia he wrote about 150 motets and a dozen or so Masses, but only a handful seem to have made it on to CPDL. Perhaps we'll explore some of the others.

Welcome

This is a record of musical activities at St John's Cathedral, Salford - what we've been doing and what's coming up, and some thoughts on the musical planning process. You can also find information about joining the choir, and about our choral scholarships program.